Shadow Dreams
by emmy1124
Summary: She always woke right before the shadow formed a face. Would she ever figure out who he is. Or who SHE is? VERY AU!
1. Dreams

She walked towards the shadow that was just feet in front of her

This is a new idea that popped in my head the other night. I have a vague outline of the story, of course it's still in my head and not on paper, so it may change. Hope you all like it. I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters you recognize in this story.

She walked towards the shadow that was just feet in front of her. Every step she took seemed like two steps back. The shadow was reaching for her, and when she finally got near enough to touch it, she reached out. Her hand had just closed around the hand of the shadow. She could feel calloused fingers gripping hers. Warmth filled her body and she looked up at the shadow's face. The swirling green mist around her seemed to still. The face started to form out of the shadows. A bright green shone through and she started to…..BEEP BEEP BEEP.

Sitting up suddenly, sweat dripping from her forehead and her breath coming out in pants, Ginny Harris picked up her alarm clock and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and quit beeping. Flopping back down on her bed, she stared at the ceiling thinking about her dream. Every night, she saw the same thing. She would get to see the stranger's face start to form and then she'd wake up. She was tired of it. Would she ever figure out who he was? It wasn't that she wanted to know who HE was exactly, she wanted to know if he could help her figure out who SHE was.

Four years ago, Ginny woke up in an alley in New York City. How she got there, she didn't know. The only thing she knew about herself was that she was about twenty- one, she had red hair, and her name was Ginny. Her last name completely baffled her. She didn't know. Her accent was British, so she knew she wasn't American. Finding the street sign nearest her, which read Harris St., she figured that would work for now. Four years later, she still went by Harris, and she still didn't know who she was.

Grumbling, but knowing that grumbling wouldn't get her to work on time, she got out of bed. Stumbling into the shower, she let the hot water run over her, relieving her aching muscles and waking her effectively. Four years of waiting tables at a hopping diner should have caught up with her by now, but she was still bone tired every night. Drying off and running a brush through her wet hair, only to pull it up into a bun, she dressed quickly and walked out her door.

Two doors down her apartment complex hall, she knocked three times and waited. Shelly always ran late. Five minutes later, Ginny was still in the hall. She huffed and reached into her purse for Shelly's keys. If she had to wake her up, she was going to just dump water on her head and walk to work without her. Just as she found her key ring, the door was thrown open and her friend rushed out.

"Sorry, Ginny, my blow dryer went out on me. Then I spilled my coffee on my apron and had to find my clean one, which was hiding in a pile of clean clothes in the back of my closet."

Ginny laughed at her friend. "Shelly, if you ever have a morning where something doesn't go wrong, it will be a miracle."

Mock glaring at her friend as they made their way down the hall, Shelly turned and looked at Ginny. Opening her mouth for a smart remark, she stopped when she saw Ginny's face. Sighing heavily, she stopped Ginny from going any further.

"Did you forget something this morning, Ginny?" Shelly asked as she rummaged in her bag.

"No. I bathed, brushed my teeth and hair, and got dressed. I don't need anything else, Shelly."

Undaunted, Shelly opened up the case she found in her bag and started swiping powder and blush on Ginny. Ginny rolled her eyes, but stood still. She knew it was pointless to try to stop Shelly. A bit of mascara, some green tinted eyeshadow and a very neutral colored gloss later, they finally made it out the door of their apartment building.


	2. Billy

AN: My name is Ginny. When Emmy decided to tell my story, I was excited. However, she botched up the first chapter. Totally didn't get me right. So I've decided to take over. I will be telling this now, through Emmy if you will. So here we go……oh, and she doesn't own any of the characters you recognize, blah blah blah. You all know the drill.

After finally being able to leave the beautifying attacking hands of Shelly, I stepped outside our building. It was like the city had a life of its own. It's own sounds, smells, emotions, actions. It's amazing. Two blocks to the left of us is a shelter, so there are forever men and women, even children, out without proper winter wear. It's quite sad, but the neighborhood I'm in and the life I'm living doesn't leave me that much better off, so I don't do as much as I'd like for them. Walking past, but smiling encouragingly, at a woman with three children, two of which didn't have shoes, I turned to Shelly, who was touching up her lipstick.

"It's too early for him to be there, Shell." I told my makeup obsessed friend.

Shelly has a thing for, well, men. Not in the slutty kind of way where she sleeps with every guy she sees, or meets, but the kind where she needs to be seen, admired, flirted with. It does something for her confidence or some rubbish. She just needs to meet the right one.

Since the diner we waitress at, Bella's, was nine blocks from our place, we kind of got to know some of the people we passed every day. Day after day. Two or three blocks from the diner was a construction zone. A new hotel or apartment or some nonsense. I mean, I love the city, but any more people here and it will just break off and crumble into the ocean. Sorry, I digress. This construction zone has some of the nastiest, rudest, dirtiest men I've ever seen. And then there's Billy. He's just different than the rest of them. He's clean shaven, young, and built. Man is he built.

At the beginning, he would just smile briefly at us as we walked by. The other guys would wolf-whistle and call out suggestions and desires. It was gross. We got used to ignoring the rest of them. One day, however, as we were walking by, a car sped by, knocking a road cone over onto the sidewalk. Before we could even blink, it flipped end over end into us. Shelly and I both went down onto the pavement. Quickly, I jumped up, regretting that immediately by the throbbing in my left ankle, but I was concerned about Shelly. Her crying out it pain had me freaking out like no tomorrow. I mean, I even had some kind of picture in my head of a curly brown haired girl about my age who looked nothing like Shelly, crying out in pain while bright lights flashed around me. I did hit my head when I reached the concrete, so that's a decent explanation. But I always wondered if it wasn't a memory.

Wow, I'm off topic again. So sorry. Anyway, Shelly's crying and holding her leg, which was bleeding quite heavily. The offending cone had been righted again after landing right side up, and didn't look like the angry missile it was ten seconds earlier. Before I could even reach my arms out to her, two arms gripped me and steadied me while Billy picked up Shelly like she was nothing and we were steered into the trailer by the site. He checked her out, cleaned up a nasty cut below her knee, and pressed some ice on her shin, which was going to bruise like crazy. I just stared at them. He was so gentle, so good, and she just sat there and cried silent tears, and smiled softly at him the whole time. When he was done with her, he sat beside her holding her hand while she finished her tears. They quickly dried up and pretty soon, she was flirting. FLIRTING. Ten minutes after almost being killed by cone.

I was so caught up in their little experience, I didn't even notice the other person in the room with us. Sudden pain in my ankle whipped my head around. The construction manager, Mitch, had wrapped my rapidly swelling ankle in a bandage, then proceeded to place a bag of frozen peas on it. I yelped at the cold, then thanked him. He just nodded and walked out of the trailer. Shelly and I ended up going home that day and staying in my living room, drinking tea and watching soap operas. It was a very nice day, but our manager at work wasn't pleased to have both his day shift waitresses out for the day.

So here we are, three months later, taking the same route to work. Passing the half-built building, Shelly suddenly grasped my wrist and sucked in her breath. I followed her gaze and found Billy walking towards us. Shelly straightened her shirt and with a toss of her hair, showed her brilliant smile to the man standing in front of us.

"Hey, Shelly. Hey Ginny," Billy said, looking slightly nervous.

"Hey," we replied.

"Umm, hey Shelly, I was thinking. An old friend of mine from my first construction job is coming into town this weekend, and I'm taking him out clubbing Saturday night. Would you like to come with me? And Ginny, I know you don't know him, but he's a great guy. Would you come along, too?"

I blanched. I was not, repeat, NOT, going. Not. Not. Not.

"Sure, we'd love to, Billy," piped up Shelly. I whipped around so fast to look at her that I think I may have broken my neck. She smiled guiltily at me and hooked her arm into mine. "We'll meet you at the diner at eight, okay? Bye."

I let her drag me off about a block before my senses caught up with me. I stared at her. "Are you MENTAL? I don't want to go out with a guy I don't know. You and Billy will be all mushy-mush and I will be stuck with someone who probably spits and thinks of women as a notch on a bedpost. Construction workers are all the same! I repeat, are you mental?" I was starting to hyperventilate.

"Ginny, calm down. Billy doesn't act like the rest of those creeps, and if he says his friend is a good guy, then he is. You know that." She pouted and gave me the eyes she gives guys when she wants them to buy her something. "Please, Ginny, I wanna go. I don't want to go by myself though. Tell ya what, if you are having a absolutely positively almighty horrible time, we'll leave. Together. Me and you. I promise."

Keeping my glare in place, although I wanted to laugh how pathetic we looked in the middle of New York City, in our waitress dresses and unattractive white shoes, holding hands facing each other, Shelly bouncing up and down a bit. What a picture. Even by the city's standards. "Fine. Shelly, I'll go, but I don't want it to be an absolutely, positively, almighty horrible time. It just has to be horrible. Any more and I'll just drag you out. If I ask to leave, we go. Okay?"

"Okay!" Shelly readily agreed. She laughed and talked about clothes and makeup and dance steps the rest of the way to work.

That night, I lay down in my bed, trying to figure out why I let Shelly talk me into this. I smiled thinking of how happy she looked, and how happy I knew she and Billy would be together. Dozing off with a smile on my face, I was not expecting the dream that would come that night.


	3. Bracelet

**I hope ya'll are enjoying this as much as I am writing it. I can't be sure though, with only one review this last chapter…..I own nothing, no HP anything. Any names you recognize are JK's. The rest are mine, though. --Emily**

"Run, Ginny, get out of here!"

I listened to the voice and took off towards some trees. Bright lights flashed around me and above in the sky. Screams permeated the air in every direction. I was petrified. Soon, I came to a clearing in the woods. My feet stopped and try as I could, they wouldn't budge. I was stuck. I tried and tried to run, and could feel something approaching me. A stick snapped behind me, causing me to turn around quickly and I lost my balance. I fell down hard.

"Oomph," I cried, and hearing footprints fall heavily in the grass, screamed, "Help! Somebody! Please help me!" A few names rushed through my head, Ron, Fred, Bill, but they were gone as fast as they came. I couldn't remember anyone. Anything.

Suddenly an arm wrapped around my stomach and another over my mouth. I was dragged into a cluster of trees, kicking and trying to bite whoever had a hold of me. A sudden whiff of something like pine trees and sugar had me stop.

"Ginny, hush, love." The voice commanded harshly.

I quit trying to get out of his grasp, but only after seeing three dark figures rush out in the clearing where I just was. They searched around and one of them pointed in the direction opposite of where I was. They took off at a fast past. One of them carried a kind of thin torch with blue fire on the end of it.

I started to turn around. The arms around me tightened. "Not here. Listen to me."

I nodded, desperately wanting a face. I knew this was the face I'd been seeing in a shadow. The rough and calloused hands. The scent in the air. The calming presence.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt. I'm going to put this bracelet on you and then you are going to wake up. Remember that I love you, I've always loved you, I will always love you. If it's ever right that we meet again, I hope you'll forgive me."

I didn't understand. Who was this person? Who loved me? Why would he need forgiving. He must have sensed my hesitation. Tightening his arms in a full-out backwards hug, he squeezed me and kissed my shoulder. "I love you Ginny. Please remember that."

With that, the arms were gone. Acting out of instinct, I turned. I was surrounded by the green mist again, but could see him retreating into the shadow. His back was to me, but I made out dark hair and a tall thin build. When he reached the shadows, he turned and waved. I couldn't make out his face, but undeniably green eyes shown through all the darkness, engulfing me in a wave of love I have never felt. As he disappeared in the mist, I looked down at my arm. There was a gold chain, very delicate, with two charms on it. A horse and a deer.

Sheer panic coursed through my veins as another stick behind me popped. "Gotcha, girlie, now the Dark Lord's wishes can be carried out." As the hand grasped my arm painfully, I screamed, falling into blackness.

Which is what prompted me to wake up. There is nothing like falling out of your bed on a normal night, but falling out after a doozy of a dream like that….whew. Let me just say I taught my slippers laying innocently by the bed several new curse words.

Picking myself up and untangling the sheets from around my sweaty form, I stood on shaky legs. Walking through my small apartment, I filled a glass with water and sat down on my couch, without turning any lights on.

I have a ceiling fan in there. It's very relaxing. Sipping my water, I realized I was crying. Angrily swiping at my eyes (I hated crying more than anything) a sharp sting settled itself across the top of my cheek. I looked down at my hand, wondering what could have done damage to my face, and saw a bracelet. One I didn't have when I went to bed. One with a deer and horse on it. I dropped my glass of water.

Then I fainted.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

"What is wrong with you, Ginny?" Shelly was exasperated with me. I spilled blusher on the shirt we had just picked out for me. It was actually the third one. The first two had similar endings, one with coffee and the other toothpaste.

I couldn't tell her about my dream. We were really good friends, sisters even, but I just couldn't explain how I went to sleep with naked wrists and woke up with one of them covered. And then the weird torches that were the size of sticks. And a Lord someone or the other. I mean, who would that be? Smiling slightly, I replied, "I guess I'm just nervous. I realized I hadn't been out with anyone in…..well, I don't know how long, and I don't know what to do."

Shelly was one of the first people who found me after I left the alley I found myself in. She took me in and helped me get a job and a place. She's slightly overprotective of me, but loves me and is the greatest friend I could ask for.

"You'll be fine, Ginny. Now me, on the other hand, need some help. How long have Billy and I been dancing around each other? Now we are finally doing something about it." She had an odd tone to her voice, but before I could place it, she continued, "I have ONE more nice shirt Ginny. I swear, if you don't sit still and let me finish getting ready, I will tie a towel around you like a bib. You have got to keep this together."

I grinned at her. She walked to her closet and pulled out a deep teal sleeveless shirt. It sparkled and matched my simple jean skirt and brown sandals. I knew the teal would set off my red hair, so I made extra sure to keep any debris of the liquid or powder form off it.

Getting to the diner to meet the guys with ten minutes to spare, which in itself was a miracle for Shelly, we sat down at a bench outside and waited. Billy came around the corner about five minutes later. A man with a dark jacket, khaki pants and a black hat followed him. We stood up.

"Hi, Billy," Shelly gushed. She stepped forward and twisting a little to make her pink skirt swish, reached up and placed a kiss on his cheek. She blushed prettily and turned to me.

"Hi, Ginny," Billy said, "You girls look great. Ginny, this is my friend Harry Potter. Harry, this is Shelly's best friend Ginny Harris."

I smiled up at Harry. He took his hat off and black hair tumbled out of it. Looking properly in my face, bright green eyes shone back at me with a look of familiarity. I inhaled sharply, catching trees and sugar. For the second time that week, I fainted.

**AN: Please don't hate me. I hate cliffhangers as much as the next person, but they keep you coming back. I hope. Let me know!**


	4. Memories

**Hi Guys. So sorry for the delay. My brand new laptop doesn't have Word on it. What?! Nuts, right? So until I find someone who has it...or break down and buy it, I have to use the old one...and it's SLOW! So. That's my excuse. Oh, and I wanted to bring to ya'lls attention that the diner being named "Bella's" doesn't have to do with Lestrange. It's in honor of my puppy who died on Memorial Day a couple months ago. She was nine months old and my BABY. So anyway, that's that. I don't own anything...HP related. Enjoy.**

The visions just kept coming. One wouldn't even end before another would pop in its place. They were all me. Growing up. I was picking a lock on a broomshed to steal my brother's broom. I was watching Fred and George laughing as Ron cried over a teddy with eight legs. I was being carried by my mum through Diagon Alley, my hand wrapped firmly around a sippy. I was showing my first bout of magic, after being teased by my brothers. The table still has scorch marks and those plates that caught fire had to be thrown out. I was getting my letter to Hogwarts. The diary. The basilisk. Riddle. Harry. Dementors. Hogsmeade. The Yule Ball. Thestrals. Sirius. Dumbledore. The Astronomy Tower. The Battle.

The Battle.

The scenes were just running through my head at top speed. When I got outside to help the third year Ravenclaw wanting to go home, it all slowed down. I felt Harry near. I felt him leaving. We won, though. We buried Fred three days later. Six years past. Six years of utter happiness. There was always the hole there that Fred filled, but we were all safe.

Ron and Hermione got married. George and Percy kept up the joke shop. Charlie was still dealing with dragons, now with his fiancé, Jana. Bill and Fleur had two beautiful children. And me. With Harry. Like it was supposed to be.

We had a lovely flat on the outskirts of London. The forest behind it reminded us of the forbidden forest at Hogwarts. It was beautiful. Two weeks after I turned twenty-three, our lives fell apart.

Harry came home from work, as usual. He had a big grin on his face. This could have been because he'd asked me to marry him two weeks prior….great birthday present. We hadn't stopped grinning like idiots since. He had just wrapped his arms around me and leaned in for a good snog, when an owl flew through the window and landed on the kitchen table. It dropped a note off and flew off again, with another note in its beak. We looked startled, but recovered quickly. Harry opened the letter and turned pale. He quickly grabbed my wrist and dragged me out the back of the house.

"Where are we going? What's wrong?" I tried to pull from his grasp, but he held on. I knew I'd have bruises the next day.

He didn't let go of me till we got to a clearing in the woods. All of the sudden, screams permeated the air and spells were being shot. I looked back and saw my brothers Ron and Percy dueling a couple Death Eaters. Mum was there, too, casting shields around an injured George. Hermione was trying to spell him better.

"Ginny, love, listen. You have to go. They are coming for you." Harry said in a rush, all the while still dragging me.

"Why? Who? I don't understand! Harry. Stop! You're hurting me!"

This seemed to sink into his head far enough so that he let go of my wrist and wrapped me in a big hug. He just held me and breathed in my hair. He looked in my eyes, and I could see tears forming in his.

"Love, I'm sorry. I really am. I love you, Ginny. Please don't forget it." He placed a gold bracelet on my wrist, kissed me hungrily and quickly, and pointed his wand at me.

A bright blue light engulfed me and that's the last I remember.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG

I moaned. It hurt to move. I felt a goose egg on the back of my head and emotions and memories flowing through me like a tidal wave. I registered I was on something soft, somewhere that smelled familiar. I felt a cool cloth being put on my head and I opened my eyes. Shelly had tears in her eyes as she sat, holding my hand and wiping my brow with the cloth.

"Gin, hon, are you okay? You gave me quite the scare. I didn't think you'd actually faint seeing him."

If my eyes could have popped out of my head, they would have. "You know Harry? Harry Potter?"

Sheepishly, Shelly replied, "Well, yes. We did go to school together."

I sat up straight, ignoring the pain and dizziness it caused. "School?! Hogwarts? What year? Who are you?" I was starting to hyperventilate and I knew it. I made myself calm down and Shelly took this time to prepare her answers.

"Four years ago, some Death Eaters decided they had found a way to bring Voldemort back. Now, they were wrong about it, he's gone, never coming back, but they had to try. Their plan was to take you and use your body when they brought him back. A younger person, plus it would have tortured Harry to have to fight him in your body. We got an owl from a spy inside about two minutes before they showed up at your flat. Lots of the Order apperated there and started fighting, but Harry had the sense to send you to the safe place we had determined. New York. I had been here about six months, and was waiting to see if you'd come. I was hoping, obviously, never to have needed you, but then you showed up. Unfortunately, something happened in your….journey, that caused a memory blackout. You either didn't want to remember, so you voluntarily blocked it out, or you were injured and had real amnesia. Now that you seem to remember things, I'm guessing it was the first."

I was shell shocked. My best friend lied to me. For FOUR years. Death Eaters were after me. Big bloody deal. I'd dealt with them before, I could do it again. Why did he send me away? I wouldn't have let them use me like that. Before I could get all riled up and let myself go at Shelly, Harry and Billy walked in. I was on my feet before I knew it.

I walked right up to Harry and slapped him. Hard. He just took it.

"I deserved that. I did. But Ginny…"

"Don't you Ginny me, Harry Potter. Who the bloody hell do you think you are? Leaving me scared and alone not knowing who I am for four bloody years before coming back and what did you expect? I'd run into your arms, saying you were forgiven and we'd take up life where we left it?" I screamed at him. He looked at me like that was exactly what he thought I'd do.

I couldn't breathe. I had to get out of there. I looked around, and realized I was in the break room of the diner. I needed my wand. My wand.

Whirling around to face him again, he backed up. Smart man. "Where is my wand?" I seethed. With shaking fingers, he pulled it out of his pocket, but didn't hand it to me.

"Smart man," mouthed Billy to Shelly. I turned and gave him a glare that made him shrink behind her.

Looking back at Harry, I just held my hand out. Thinking about the top of our building, which has a spectacular view of the city, I glared harder and spoke.

"NOW, Potter. Give. Me. MY. Wand!"

He handed it to me gingerly. I immediately felt the warmth of magic spread through my body. I closed my eyes, concentrated on my building roof, and spun. Time away from magic must have done my instincts in. As I was feeling the pulling sensation, I felt a hand wrap around my arm...


End file.
